The other day, one of my colleagues at Lynx got an email from a candidate who wanted his help. The Lynx recruiter had placed this candidate in a new job a few months ago, but the candidate had subsequently accepted a counteroffer and backed out before starting. The opportunity we had connected him with was an influential Product Management position within a promising startup, which he was very excited about. The candidate, who had been working for an established, publicly-traded company, was ultimately wooed back by his current manager with promises of great opportunities in the future, and he decided Read the rest of this entry »

My family loves to do Mad Libs. If you’ve never tried one of these, I encourage you to visit www.madlibs.com and check them out. They’re a lot of fun.

I hereby offer my own humble version, based on my years of experience arranging interviews for software engineers. If you use this, I can’t guarantee success on your next interview, but at least you’ll make a unique impression!

“My Software Interview”

Thank you for having me here today to meet with your ______________ (adjective) Read the rest of this entry »

Software engineers, by the very dynamic nature of the industry in which they work in, sometimes end up looking for a new job only a month or two after beginning their last one. Perhaps they made a mistake and only realized it after they started. Perhaps, after the fact, there was a change in the position, responsibilities, employer or the new company’s fortunes changed quickly and a layoff occurred. Whatever the reason, it’s not an ideal situation, and candidates often ask if they should even list such a position on their resume. Read the rest of this entry »

The Boston job market for good technology professionals is very strong … better than it’s been in a dozen years. Have you benchmarked your current job recently against what other opportunities might be available to you?

Here are just a some of the things you might be able to improve upon by working for your next company: Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re going to be graduating from college, love people, and think you might be potentially interested in a sales career, then maybe becoming a recruiting associate at Lynx would be a great fit!

We’re actively interviewing for one or two entry-level recruiting associates who could start with us in June or July. We have had a good track record in teaching and mentoring new college grads how to become successful in the search and placement field, and we don’t require a technical background.

Interested? Please send your resume to me along with a brief note saying why you’re interested: phil@lynxinc.com.

A software engineer who I once placed at a company in Boston eventually moved out to Silicon Valley. We still keep in touch, and he recently told me he thinks he’d enjoy combining his love of technology with his ability to work with people to become a software recruiter. He wasn’t sure how to make the transition to working for a recruiting agency, and he asked me if I could tell him how to go about it.

Well, I sure can. In fact, that’s exactly what I myself did back in 1987. And I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to write a blog post about what it takes to Read the rest of this entry »

I attended the Mass Technology Leadership Council’s very informative Big Data Summit this morning at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, along with my Lynx co-founder Sophia Navickas, and Senior Recruiters Ralph Boegel and Sam Schatz. It was an extremely interesting morning of speakers and Q&A panel sessions. It was also a great networking opportunity, and we caught up with quite a number of clients, candidates and other connections from the Boston software community. Read the rest of this entry »

Without a doubt, this is the single most common objection that we recruiters hear from prospective candidates when we make a first contact. My experience has been that many software engineers tend to view job-hunting as an “either-or” deal. Either they’re looking, or they’re not. No in-between. And that’s very understandable. Developing software requires a huge amount of passion and commitment, and you need to have your head and heart in what you’re doing.

But if you think about leaders in all fields – think CEO’s, CTO’s, VP’s of engineering, top actors, athletes and coaches, Read the rest of this entry »

Lynx is working with one of the Boston area’s most exciting startups, currently in ultra-stealth mode. Their team is currently 6 very talented people, and they are looking for our help in finding a VP (or Director) of Engineering, a Product Manager, and a software developer. Their office is conveniently located in Cambridge, they have enough money in the bank to last for over a year, and their founder is a well-known entrepreneur with a fantastic track record of accomplishment. Their idea has the potential to be BIG. Read the rest of this entry »

As 2011 comes to a close, here are my observations about some of the #trends in the Boston software community as reflected by the recruiting work Lynx did this year.

1. #Hiring demand for talented software professionals started the year strong and got stronger. Our business was up over 40% from 2010, and we have more search assignments currently underway than any time in the last decade. All signs point to this continuing in 2012.
2. The bar for hiring was high. No matter what level of experience, top performers with good track records could often have their pick of multiple offers. On the other hand, average and below-average engineers are finding it increasingly difficult to remain employed in #hightech. Like society at large, there is much less of a software #middleclass than before.

Read the rest of this entry »